The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched
the initiative in an effort to bring together a variety of
stakeholders at the federal, state, regional and local level to
coordinate public health, clinical care and policy approaches to
the problems surrounding hypertension control and education
nationwide.

North Dakota received the Million Hearts
State Learning Collaborative Awards beginning September 2014 to
directly explore innovative ideas to prevent and reduce
hypertension prevalence in our state. Since that time, numerous
stakeholders and partners have been brought together to partake
in this work.

Project Partners

Southwestern District Health Unit, Dickinson:
Piloted the use of HC Standard for blood pressure data
collection and reporting and sharing the information with
primary care providers. Utilized community paramedics in blood
pressure screenings. Implemented Heart 360 and served as mentor
for individuals using Heart 360.

Central Valley Health District, Jamestown:
Worked to connect their electronic health record system to the
ND Health Information Network and tested connectivity and
capabilities. Implemented Heart 360 and served as mentor for
individuals using Heart 360.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of ND, Fargo:
Developed a hypertension toolkit that focused on accuracy of
blood pressure measurement. Provided face-to-face training to
Million Hearts pilot sites. BCBS is exploring with other
stakeholders a business plan for provider reimbursement.

Quality Health Associates of ND, Minot:
Assisted in creating community linkages for hypertension
prevention and provided hypertension prevalence state and county
maps. Incorporated Million Hearts initiatives into quality
improvement efforts.

ND Health Information Network, Bismarck:
Created a business plan for health information exchange and
created a process in the ND HIN to receive blood pressure data
from electronic health records and present that data graphically
in the clinical portal.

ND Department of Health Division of Chronic Disease
(CD), Bismarck: Focused on providing training on how to
take blood pressures appropriately, through a fact sheet,
training for Cardiac-Ready Community volunteers and provided
information at the Hypertension Summit. The CD Division has a
full-time staff person dedicated to advancing hypertension
identification and management in the state.

Project Initiatives

Hypertension screenings and processes to refer individuals
with high blood pressure took place at various sites throughout
the state focusing on varying populations. Blood pressure
screenings were conducted by local public health, tribal health,
community paramedics and dental providers.

Heart 360 is
a tool provided by the American Heart Association that helps
users understand and track factors that affect heart health,
including blood pressure, weight, medications, etc. Volunteers
at the sites indicated in the map assisted and mentored North
Dakotans with high blood pressure in how to use and track their
information in the program.